New Testament – Page 4 – Family Faith Companion

Your wealth of astonishing talents? Will you unlock them?

Posted on November 11, 2015September 2, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

We’ve all got “gifts” and talents — yes, even you. (Even me!) The question is…

How will we use those gifts?

This is the focus of our Rotation on The Parable of the Talents.

Read about our story in Matthew 25:14-28.
Talk about this story over the dinner table. (Or wherever your household is gathered together.)
Check out the growing list of opportunities to foster faith learning at home for this month’s story.

Join us as we explore this story!

On Sundays, at the downtown location…

Date	Our workshops for 1st through 5th graders…
	Art A	Art B	Games A	Games B	Cooking A	Cooking B
11/15	2nd grade	6th grade	3rd grade	1st grade	4th grade	5th grade
11/22	3rd grade	4th grade	5th grade	2nd grade	1st grade	—
11/29	1st grade	5th grade	4th grade	—	3rd grade	2nd grade

workshop location in the bulletin Check the bulletin for the location of workshops.

And here’s what the 6th graders will be doing on Sundays downtown… (They’ll always be in the Pine Room!)

11/15	11/22	11/29
Art Workshop – help 2nd graders	Host Connections	To be announced

And on Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Workshop or Activity
11/14	Games A Workshop
11/21	Art Workshop
11/28	Worship with your family. It’s the start of Advent! Read the scripture ahead of time.

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshops (A and B are both the same) students create a “wanted” poster using a unique self-portrait method, listing their “talents” and gifts on the poster.
In the Games A Workshop students will participate in a quiz game with a room-sized game board and game wheel.
In the Games B Workshop students will watch the story on a PowerPoint and then play a quiz game.
In the Cooking Workshops (A and B are both the same) students make “fortune cookies” with fortunes relating to stewardship.

On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education, as they learn about Bible stories and concepts through kid-friendly multimedia workshops. If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credits:
Kids sharing by Donnie Ray Jones, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
Other photos from my archives.

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Give your family a gift. Will you make a new habit?

Posted on November 5, 2015November 9, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

This coming Sunday, Rev. Nancy starts off a new sermon series on Stewardship. The scripture passage will be Matthew 25:14-28, which happens to be our story for our next Rotation!

Here’s a suggestion for giving your family a gift…

a couple with coffee Attend the 9:30 service and then, leave with the kids after the children’s time.

The kids head to class and you grab some coffee.

(No, that’s not the gift.)

It’s a little known factoid that coffee is ready in time for the choir members to imbibe. (You may need to look in the kitchen. Please be sure to make a donation for your coffee during Connections time.)

Find a quiet place to sit for 40 minutes. Though space on Sunday mornings is at a premium, wander about, you’ll find a spot. Catch up on your reading. (Please keep your chatting to a hush in a space like the Social Hall where a class is being held.) Then at 11:15… (here comes the gift)…

Attend worship as a family.

Use these discussion questions to debrief the service:

What was your favorite part of worship? Did you have a least favorite part?
In the Bible story, how much did the master give to each of his servants? (Answer)
What did the story mean by a “talent?” (Ans: In Bible times a talent was a measure of the weight of a precious metal.)
What did each servant do with what the master gave him?
How did the master feel about each servants choice?
Today we use the word “talent” to mean our abilities. Go around the table and identify an ability – a talent – of the person on your left.
How do you suppose God feels when we use our skills to help others?
How do you suppose God feels if we “hide” our talents?
What skill or talent would you like to develop? What do you feel you need to do to start?
God gave us our talents. God gave us everything we have! What prayer can we say to thank God for all of our wonderful gifts.

Perhaps you’ll start a new habit every Sunday during this sermon series.

Photo credits:
An edited photo of coffee for two by Nathan Walker, who has released this photo to the Public Domain. Offered at unsplash.com.

What is this mysterious gift with its hidden meaning?

Posted on October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

I wonder what is in this wrapped package?

A gift shrouded in decorative wrappings always presents an element of mystery!

Okay, so in this case, there was not that much secrecy. It was, after all, “hand-out-the-Bibles-Sunday” — so you were well aware of what object hid beneath this pretty paper.

Except, even when the paper has been removed, the gift is still mysterious!

Indeed, what is the Bible all about?

It does not provide the answer to all of our questions.

Then how are we to approach it?

Learn with the children… It started in the worship service.

Bibles are distributed in worship

This Bible must be something that is significant! After all, every third grader received a gift of one from the church. It was given out in a reverent sort of way – in front of everyone – in a memorable ceremony with each parent handing their child their gift as their name was called.

Pastor Doug showed us some of his Bibles. He has more than one! This Bible must be really important.

“Pastor

The mystery continued… we discovered that this gift was hidden beneath layers of gift wrap — five layers, to be exact.

layer one - gift wrap layer 2 - brown

It turns out as we unwrapped, that each layer taught us something about the Bible! After the gift wrap layer there was brown paper. An old-looking wrapper reminding us this is a book of very old stories. There is mystery in wondering why some of these stores were told over and over and over again! And why were they considered so important; important enough to be written down?

The next layer is the funny pages! (Do today’s kids even know what those are?) The comics tell stories, so the mystery is: What story is God telling me, here and now? It is for us to figure out! Thank goodness for dinner table discussion and for Sunday’s Cool to help!

Layer 4 - gold paper The 4th layer is shiny, gold paper. Gold is something valuable. What great value to discover that every story in the Bible points to God’s love for us!

But why!? Why does he love me? I am flawed!

Layer 5 - white paper Ah, the last layer was a clue: it was nice, clean, new, white. No mystery here; I get a fresh chance whenever I flub up! (Thanks, God!)

Checking out their new Bible

Finally, we made it to the final gift: our very own copy of the Bible! We were instructed to find our current Rotation story: The Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

How appropriate that we’ve been studying a parable! A parable is a story with a hidden meaning! I can trust that the mysteries will continue.

I wonder if I will allow the mystery to nourish me?

It’s time for the group photo…

The class of 2025!

Photo credits:
Last group photo taken by Tom Gardner.
Rest of photos from my archives.

Revealing the hidden truth: Who is your neighbor?

Posted on September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Who likes to play games? How about playing a game around the family dinner table? After all, dinner table games can lead everyone into dialogue. And what could be better than a family talking!

What game shall we play? How about a storytelling game! Chose someone to start the story. They can start to tell a tale about anything! After a couple of sentences, they choose someone else, who then continues the story where it left off. Of course it’s more fun if you move along quickly!

When your story finishes up. Ask your family these pointing-to-another-story questions:

A parable is a type of story. Who is known for telling lots of parables? [Jesus!]
Can you name some of Jesus’ parables? [There are over 50! Dig through a Bible to find some.]
What is it about a parable that makes it unique? [Parables are stories with a hidden meaning that are meant to teach us something.]
What do you suppose is the hidden meaning in the Parable of the Good Samaritan? (Need to review the story?)
The hidden meaning in this story was that our “neighbor” can be the person we least-expect! What is this parable teaching us today? [It asks us to look at how we view others. Isn’t everyone our neighbor?]
Pastor Doug has been talking about “Disruptive Christianity.” What do you suppose we could do that would help out a “neighbor?” How would doing that be “disruptive?”

a blue line

Photo credits:
Child at the table by Jenna P, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

What is a Good Samaritan?

Posted on September 8, 2015September 5, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

How would you define a “Good Samaritan?” Is it someone who stops to help someone who needs roadside assistance?

Not surprisingly, that is the modern-day meaning of a Good Samaritan, but that is not what Jesus was teaching us to do!

This coming Sunday the downtown Cool Disciples will start a new Rotation on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I’m hoping that we’ll see the hidden meaning in this parable!

Here are some recommended steps you can take over the course of the next few days. Do these things at the family dinner table. Or wherever your family is gathered together.

a blue line

Your assignment: (Think of this as… Traveling down the path to deepening your family’s faith. And a way to get more out of Sunday’s Cool.)

Read our story in Luke 10:25-37.
The next time you gather, read the story in a different Bible version. (How about The Message?)
When you gather again, try telling the story from memory. Check a Bible to see how you did.
A fun thing to do after multiple tellings of the story is to tell the story incorrectly! “Once a man was traveling from Ann Arbor to Lansing.” Allow everyone to add a line to the story. See if anyone catches the purposeful mistakes.
Watch this animated video of the story.

Watch it a second time and tell the story as the video runs. (If reading this in an email, you can watch this video on YouTube.)

a blue line

Think of how much deeper the classroom discussion could be if everyone arrives with a general knowledge of the story!

See you in class! (Hope you’ve put church on your calendar.)

Photo credits:
Flat tire by OakleyOriginals, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

If every day were a day to remember

Posted on May 23, 2015May 23, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

A holiday set aside for honoring men and women who died serving the U.S. military, Memorial Day got started in the late 1860’s. That’s legions of seasons for reminiscence!

Memorial Day 2011, at San Francisco National Cemetery

What if every day were marked as a day for remembrance? Could we do it?

Probably not. It would take scads of intentionality. Sticky notes everywhere?
A sticky note with the words - Today. Remember!

It takes work to call to mind even ordinary stuff. But reminders can help.

In the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, we read of people building cairns as a way of recollecting that God was at work in their lives.

Jacob built such a monument after distinctly experiencing God’s presence. He stacked stones and called the spot Bethel meaning “God is in this place.” Jacob would never forget that night.

In Joshua 4:1-7, God tells the Israelites to set up a “memento” made up of 12 stones. The purpose? So that when their children asked: “What is this memorial about?” they would then be able to tell the story of the great act that God had done to take care of his people. It was to be a reminder to those who were not there to witness this act, that God was great!

For times when you aren’t sure that God is real and present in your life. (Because those days happen, don’t they?) For questioning times.

a boy stacks stones on a beach This month our Rotation key Bible verse is about remembering. Jesus advised his disciples and gave them a reminder:

Go and make disciples of all nations … and surely I am with you always. Matthew 28:19-20

What reminders can help us to not forget the every-day, great things that God does? That God is always with us?

What “memorials” — memory tools — can we set up to help us every day, to remember? Try creating something simple…

Stack stones: Go out for a walk to collect stones. Once back at home, in a family gathering (perhaps at the dinner table), artfully arrange your rocks while discussing God in your lives that day. Encourage contemplative manipulation of your rock pile.
Display a cross: Need a cross to display in your home? How about making one? Check out these ideas (goes to my Pinterst board).
Create an “altar” of sorts. Fill a space in your home with reminders of God at work. Allow touching and rearranging and additions and subtractions. (Photo on right is at the Nelson home around Easter time.)

Set up reminders to tell our children the stories of what God has done in our lives.

Photo credits:
A Memorial Day scene by Daniel Parks.
Sticky Note created from a Public Domain image.
Stacking stones by Roy Luck, on Flickr. Flickr images offered via Creative Commons.
Other photo thanks to the Nelson family.

Take me to where love is needed

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Jesus told us to go and make disciples.

But what does it mean to “make disciples?”

(I hope it doesn’t involve Bible-waving. And, is there something that doesn’t take much time, that I can fit in between collecting a paycheck, caring for my family, car-pooling, and crashing into bed exhausted every night?)

How are we suppose to follow what is called “The Great Commission?”

hands held in the shape of a heart over the face of a child

By noticing the need for love.

Teach your family to be on the look out for situations where love is needed.

Sometimes it is obvious: The latest disaster in the news. A homeless person. A child in tears.
Sometimes it can be more obvious with some training that makes us more sensitive to what a need looks like: A sibling, troubled by hurtful words. A child, alone at recess. A parent, struggling to get dinner ready.
Present scenarios of these situations to your child. Ask them: “What can you do to provide some love in such a case?” Guide them to think of possible answers.
Sometimes it’s about stepping back and asking deeper questions about a situation. What stress is going on in her life that would cause her to react that way? Can I see the underlying events that have led him to become homeless? Will I observe her behavior as not mean, but as trying to gain control?… These situations require further discussion about how our findings may affect how we offer love. Discuss these situations over the family dinner table.

Jesus counts on us to be his hands and his feet — to do good things in the world — in all sorts of ways!

Photo credits:
Heart hands by Fanny, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

The Great Commission says to go. You don’t have to go far. (Start at home)

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life.
— Jesus

United Methodists take Jesus’ words seriously. We say that our mission is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Sounds very lofty! How about we start at home?

How about we start by discipling the people who live with us?

It doesn’t have to happen in a formal, sit-down-and-study sort of way.

It happens when we apply faith to every-day life with our words.

For example, today, when springtime is bursting out around us, try pointing out God in simple ways.

a Redbud tree in bloom When you see bright colors…
Say: Notice how God is painting beauty all around us!

a single tulip next to a tree

See a single flower (all by itself)?
Say: God planted that one just to cheer someone up.

For the sounds of spring…
Say: Listen to the birds chirping; God gave them voices to announce spring.

When it rains…
Say: God is watering the flowers.

baby birds in a nest For springtime babies…
Say: Jesus was resurrected from the dead because God promised new life. Isn’t it fun to notice new life?

fog in the morning in the valley

When fog swirls…
Say: God wanted to just kiss the trees.

For a sunset…
God’s got his paintbrushes out again.

a sunset through the trees

When Jesus says “Go” this applies to our everyday going about – going to church, going to school, going to the mall, going to play sports, or going to a concert – It means going about our daily lives. It is a process with rich rewards.